Acoustic Guitar Construction

Hi Oli I'm late saying hi, but you are well on your way now. When you are ready to bind your sound hole give a holler to Mr Dave Bagwill. He has a special can, uh, er I mean clamp he uses for doing that process and perhaps he'll loan it to you.

The good old Harry and David's Turkey Seasoning can?? I hope I still have it...:-)

Ken - no bad feelings, I am here to learn after all! I will add in a few more side reinforcements.

Kevin / Dave - Hello! My current plan for binding the soundhole was to follow this method (http://liutaiomottola.com/construction/ ... ndhole.htm) but I'm certainly open to doing it another way. I have ordered some ivoroid bindings from a company in the UK and might use that instead of the maple bindings that came with the kit, depending on which material suits the vintage look I am going for. I will use the same material to bind both the soundhole and the sides.

Could someone tell me the best way to protect the spruce top from glue stain when installing the rosette / soundhole binding? Is a clear coloured burn in shellac stick a good method? And would I need to cover the whole surface where the rosette was going or just the exposed endgrain in the soundhole / rosette channels?

Thanks for your help!

Clear lacquer would be my suggestion - that's what is used at the Taylor factory. It seals the end grain and surface -- CA glue can even be used. I understand that shellac is used by some but I do not like that it tints the light color wood and could cause shading issues if not sanded off properly/completely.

That is the one! I tried this process myself using a McCormick French Fried onion can and it didn't work at all, and I can't get the Harry & Davids Turkey Seasoning here. Darn!

Oli - Mattola's method is fine, I 've used it as well.

Kevin - if you had attended my Master's Class in soundhole binding, I would have gifted you a can of said H&D seasoning - sans the seasoning.

Small update:

I have installed fret dots (at the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th). I tried a few different arrangements but this simple setup is my favourite. I am just waiting for a 1.5mm drill bit to do the side dots (my local hardware shop didn't have one!)

I have also cut the taper into the fretboard. I went with a 1 3/4" width at the nut since that is what I am used to playing. I am a bit worried that I sanded into the radius of the fretboard when I was sanding the pearl dots flush, so I am going to get a radius block to fix that. Is 16 the correct size?

Finally I shaped the back braces with a chisel, plane and a flapper wheel. I still need to do a bit of fine sanding on the tapered section and maybe go over the braces with the plane again to smooth them out.

Right now I am waiting for the stew mac circle cutter to get here since I don't trust the provided dremel one to do a perfect cut. Once I have the rosette and soundhole done I can move on to bracing the top!

Also below is a picture of the ivoroid binding I got, as well as some replacement tuner buttons for the grover sta-tites I am going to be using.